MLB Player News

Darvish was pulled as a precautionary measure before the eighth inning of Friday's start against the Yankees with triceps tightness, Emily Jones of Fox Sports Southwest reports.

Darvish had needed just 88 pitches to throw seven shutout innings, so it was assumed that something was up when he didn't come out for the eighth. Given Darvish's injury history, it's understandable that the Rangers didn't want to push him at even the slightest hint of tightness. As this move was called precautionary, he shouldn't be expected to miss a start, but his progress should be monitored throughout the week.

Darvish (6-5) fired seven shutout innings on two hits while striking out 10, but received no decision Friday against the Yankees.

Darvish was locked up in a pitcher's duel against Masahiro Tanaka, and the Rangers were unable to get him any run support, keeping him from earning his seventh win of the season. This was just the second time over his last five starts that he's held an opponent to fewer than three runs, but his 3.12 ERA makes him an outstanding fantasy option. He'll make his next start Wednesday against the Indians.

Mejia (2-3) allowed no runs on two hits and five walks while striking out four across five innings to earn the win Friday against the Indians.

Mejia's control issues caused him to burn through 104 pitches, explaining why he was unable to pitch beyond the fifth inning despite holding the Tribe scoreless. He's only made it out of the fifth inning once over his last six starts, and his 4.93 ERA makes him a difficult player to trust in fantasy lineups. He'll make his next start Wednesday against the Red Sox.

Bassitt (elbow) will toss a simulated game Saturday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Bassitt has not pitched yet in 2017 following Tommy John surgery in May 2016 but appears to be nearing a rehab assignment. The right-hander will throw another simulated game Saturday, following his previous one this past Wednesday.

Hamels (oblique) will throw a bullpen session Friday, and if all goes well, he will likely start Monday against the Indians, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.

The lefty built up to 81 pitches during his rehab start Wednesday with Double-A Frisco, and he now faces just one final hurdle on the road back from an oblique strain. Hamels turned in a 3.03 ERA in five starts before going down with the injury, but a dramatic decline in strikeout rate (4.1 K/9) and swinging-strike rate, and an uptick in hard contact against, suggest he was overachieving to a significant extent.

Perez fractured his non-pitching thumb Friday but is expecting to make his next start Wednesday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

Following a freak accident that caused Perez to suffer a small fracture at the very top of his thumb, the left-hander stated that he would be good to go for next week, but the Rangers were not as sure. In the occasion that Perez would be unable to make his scheduled start, the team would likely toss Yu Darvish on Wednesday with Andrew Cashner moved up to Thursday. Perez is looking to throw a bullpen Saturday, and there will be more information regarding his status following that session.

Boston GM Dave Dombrowski said he hopes Rodriguez (knee) will rejoin the starting rotation after the All-Star break,Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com reports.

Rodriguez has been slowly working his way back from a knee injury suffered earlier this month and should be able to begin a rehab assignment soon. Nonetheless, the Red Sox will turn to newly-acquired Doug Fister as their fifth starter until the young left-hander is able to return to the big-league roster. Look elsewhere for starting pitching depth until July 14.

Clevenger notched his third win of the season Thursday in Baltimore, holding the Orioles to two runs over five innings. He allowed six hits and four walks but managed to strike out four batters.

The right-hander settled in after giving up a leadoff home run to Seth Smith and limited the damage the rest of the way. Still, it was clear that Clevenger didn't have his best stuff as he hit two batters in addition to issuing four free passes, and his four strikeouts in five innings were well off his usual strikeout rate (10.5 K/9 over his last five starts). He should maintain a spot in the rotation for the foreseeable future, which means he's lined up to start again Tuesday against Texas.

Miley (3-5) gave up four runs en route to taking the loss at home Thursday against the Indians. He allowed eight hits and two walks while notching three strikeouts.

While it was far from a disastrous outing from Miley, he was inefficient and hittable once again. His inability to get through at-bats quickly drove his pitch count up to 111 in just five innings. His home splits still look solid on the surface (3.09 ERA, 31 K in 35.0 innings), but his 1.54 WHIP suggests he's had some luck in stranding runners at a high rate. Miley has also allowed at least four runs in each of his last three home starts. He's lined up to face the Blue Jays on the road Wednesday for his next start.

Severino (5-3) was tagged with the loss Thursday against the Angels. He allowed five earned runs over 6.0 innings, giving up eight hits and two walks while striking out five batters.

He was staked to a 5-1 lead early in Thursday's matchup and was able to navigate the through the Angels' lineup reasonably well until the sixth and seventh innings. Severino allowed the first two hitters of the seventh to reach safely before the Yankees turned it over to the bullpen and allowed both Cameron Maybin and Cliff Pennington to score. He has now allowed four-plus earned runs in back-to-back outings after having no such outing in any of his previous seven starts. Severino is lined up to face the White Sox in Chicago for his next outing.